bird costumes too apparently for women who go for sexier costumes this time of year. >> a sexier big bird? isn't that an oxymoron? >> hey. >> okay, whatever. >> i know the "sesame street" workshop has not been crazy about all the attention big bird has been getting. but only bad press is no press, right? >> we shall see. and now from washington's leading news station, this is news4 today. >> mitt romney and president obama are taking a back seat today as the focus shifts to the showdown between the vice presidential candidates. plus, putting their season on the line as the nationals face a must-win game in their playoff series against the cardinals. good morning, everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to news4 today for this thursday, october 11th, 2012. 48 degrees. it is chilly. you need a coat to start. we want to know whether you can

shed the layers ler today. >> yes, but just not as much as what we did yesterday. it's all balancing out here yesterday and today. yesterday we had some clouds. we got into the 70s. today 60. maybe low 60s in a few neighborhoods. but quite a bit of sunshine expected across the area today. so cool sunshine it will be. check out the temperatures right now across the area. adams morgan at 52. centreville at 48. atlanta, maryland, good morning to you. you are at 49 degrees right now. under a mostly clear sky. so by 8:00 a.m. this morning, we're still clear and the temperature will be between 40 and 47 degrees. so a chilly start indeed to the day. you're going to need the jacket for sure all through the day. 53 to 56 degrees. afternoon commute, mostly sunny, back to november your temperature of 59 to 62 degrees. we're going to be hanging out in the 60s over the next couple of days.

at least as far as high temperatures go. it's not until the second half of the weekend that we will push into the 70s. here's an early look at your four-day forecast. some breezy conditions coming our way also starting tomorrow. we'll take a look at the four-day forecast once again coming up in ten minutes. >> good morning. traveling along powder mill road, earlier accident has resulted in downed wires. so if you're traveling powder mill road heading westbound at evans trail, the right lane is going to get you by the downed wires in that area. however, eastbound all your lanes are blocked. all you'll do is make a left on cherry hill road, then a right on calverton boulevard. outside the beltway, travel lanes are open all the way from sudley to the beltway. inside the beltway clear as well in both directions. a live look at spout run

parkway, you're accident-free. tonight is the first and only vice presidential debate. it is expected to be much more aggressive than their running mates last week. vice presidential biden and republican challenger paul ryan will face off at center college in connectickentucky. viewers will not only pay attention to policy arguments, they'll also be watching for visual cues and which candidate appears to be more presidential. debate coverage begins at 9:00 followed by news4 at 11:00. mitt romney has enjoyed a boost in several polls from a strong debate performance, but it's a new poll out this morning of voters in swing states that may hold the most encouraging news for the former governor. the poll by nbc news, marist and "wall street journal" shows romney closing the gap in three states. ohio, florida, and right here in virginia. it is virginia that is considered one of the most importan states of this election where romney is really gaining some ground. he now leads the president there 48% to 47%. that is a three-point swing from

last week when he trailed by two points. in ohio is where we're also seeing some new numbers this morning. the president still leads there, though. romney has gained two points, though, in the last week to shrink the advantage to 51-45 right now. the president also leading in florida this morning, but only by one percentage point, well within the margin of error for this poll. the only good news for the president here, it is the same lead he held during last week's poll. >> while mitt romney can't be in all key states all the time, his family can help, though. tonight his son ben romney will be in arming on the for a debate watch party. he'll be with supporters at the romney campaign virginia headquarters in ballston. his oldest son will host a similar event in charlottesville, tonight. this morning we'll get more answers about the death of a giant panda cub at the national zoo. the cub lived for six days before it died late last month. zoo keepers believe the panda was a female. a preliminary report showed the

cub had liver abnormalities and fluid in its abdomen. the news conference starts at 10:00 a.m. this morning. look for the latest on news4 midday and nbcwashington.com. hikers and bikers will see more police patrols in montgomery county after several violent attacks. police say two attacks on the capital crescent trail may be linked. they say teenager grabbed two other teens on september 29th in the wisconsin avenue tunnel in bethesda and tried to rob them. on friday, police arrested a 16-year-old from rockville in the case. they believe the attack may be linked to a robbery in the same tunnel in july. >> i use it a lot. my girlfriend uses it to run on. she's a young single girl, kind of running early morning, late evening, so yeah, it's pretty concerning. >> police made at least one arrest in another attack that happened in july. they do not believe it is related to the other attacks on that trail. the parents of two virginia tech students who sued the state

for their daughter's deaths now want to take the university's president to court. the women were among 32 faculty and students who died during the 2007 campus massacre. attorneys want the state supreme court to overturn a judge's ruling that dismissed president charles steeger from their wrongful death lawsuit. in march, a jury found the state negligent. it is do or die for the nats. they must beat the cardinals today or their season will end. the cards ruined the nationals' first home playoff game yesterday, winning 8-0. st. louis now leads the best of five series. ross detwiler will start today, and face kyle lohse. let's do it, nats. outfielder jayson werth says he still likes the team's chances in the series. manager davy johnson said after the game that we're not out of this by a long shot.

fans are also trying to remain positive. they got their own theories about what it will take for the nats to win. >> pitching's got to turn around. they turn around the pitching, defense, hitting, they got to get the bats going, too. >> yes! >> are you sure? >> i'm rooting for them. >> they have jitters. and now they're going to do it. >> perhaps this isn't the best omen, though. ross detwiler's last start came against the cardinals a week and a halfago. he gave up seven runs in less than three innings. go nats. >> did he do it again? he did! >> that was not good. the orioles also have to win tonight to keep their season alive. it may be tough to rebound from their gut-wrenching loss to the yankees last night. raul ibanez won the game with a home run in the 12th inning. ibanez had tied the game in the

bottom of the ninth with a homer, too. the yankees lead the series now two games to one. a little work to do for our guys, all of our guys. >> really, really, really want nats to win today. >> it's still possible. >> okay. new developments overnight from miami involving a deadly parking garage collapse. also ahead, why this video is proof that some brides-to-be will stop at nothing to get the perfect wedding dress. plus another sign that you may soon be able to get your hands on an ipad mini. a clear morning outside right now, the perfect recipe for another beautiful sunny

welcome back. could this be the new ipad mini? these pictures were posted to twitter yesterday by apple. it shows what could be the yet announced ipad mini lying on top of a current regular size ipad. the smaller tablet is expected to have a seven-inch screen and feature the new connecter that debuted on the iphone 5. invites for the mini's release were expected to be sent out next week, but apple has not confirmed any of these details and this could be a rumor because it is a rumor site. >> glad we could help out with that. >> you know what i'm saying? >> yes. 11 minutes now after 5:00 on your thursday morning. veronica johnson is keeping an

eye on things outside. another cool start to the day, v.j.? >> for sure. i think temperatures are really going to struggle today to top out over 60. right now, look at where we are. we're at 45 in colesville. 49 right now in prince george's county. so today we'll hit a high of 64. mid 50s by noontime today. so all that sunshine still allowing us to struggle to get into the 60s. we'll be hanging out there for the next couple of days. we'll take a look at the extended forecast in about ten minutes. >> good news if you're traveling the beltway. inner loop and outer loop in virginia had a couple work zones there. nice and clear. let's head over to the beltway. montgomery county also seeing a work zone. you're getting by without any issues here at all. the ralils, no reported

slowdowns. not leading by example, the incident that led to this

not letting this fiery scene stop him. the dramatic rescue that has let me tell you how i will create 12 million jobs when president obama couldn't. first, my energy independence policy means more than three million new jobs. many of them in manufacturing. my tax reform plan to lower rates for the middle class and for small business creates seven million more. and expanding trade, cracking down on china, and improving job training takes us to over 12 million new jobs. i'm mitt romney, and i approve this message.

firefighters are still on the scene of a deadly house fire in east baltimore that killed five people including four children. there are now reports that three people may have also been injured, including two firefighters. take a look, this photo was taken by the fire department. flames they say ripped through the row house overnight. one person had to jump from a second-story window to escape the fire. at this point, investigators say it is not clear how the fire start started. we are hearing from a man who helped rescue a 25-year-old woman in a fiery crash.

two cars crashed head-on about three miles north of morehead, minnesota, tuesday night. dash cam shows the fiery scene. the 21-year-old heard the screams from his home and rushed to the scene to help. >> i was sitting there, i started hearing all the screaming. there was obviously a lady in the car screaming for help. and i got up to the car. at that point, my neighbor tom from a couple houses down was actually there right with me. >> that is thanks to the help from strangers, everyone made it out alive. one elderly couple is in critical condition. new this morning, rescuers pulled a construction worker out of the rebel 13 hours after a deadly garage collapse in miami. a massive slab of concrete from that five-story miami-dade community college garage hit the man. crews had to amputate his leg to free him. he was taken to the hospital in extremely critical condition. the garage collapsed yesterday afternoon, killing two workers and injuring eight others. there is still one person

unaccounted for this morning. the campus is closed for the rest of the week. today the man accused of opening fire at a military base in texas will be in court. but the reason why is what is getting attention. major nadal hasan is charged with killing 13 people at ford hood in 2009. today an army appeals court will hear arguments as to why hasan should be allowed to keep his beard during the trial. hasan challenged the orders to shave because of his muslim faith which requires him to grow a beard. if convicted he could face the death penalty. turkey says it found military communications equipment onboard a syrian passenger plane it intercepted, that flight, headed from russia to syria, was forced to land media in turkey. troops then seized the plane's cargo. they're not saying what they found, but turkey's foreign minister says the cargo contained "elements that are not legitimate in civilian flights." turkey eventually allowed the plane to continue to damascus. tensions have been high between syria and turkey in recent days.

the two sides have exchanged fire. the film maker behind the anti-muslim movie denies a bank fraud conviction. he appeared in a california courtroom yesterday. prosecutors are trying to revoke his probation and send him back to prison for two years. they say he violated self-terms of his probation. he has been in jail without bond since he was arrested two weeks ago. another hearing in that case scheduled for next month. in just a few hours, we'll find out more about the body found a few miles from where a 10-year-old girl was reported missing. police in colorado will give an update about jessica ridgeway. right now they will not confirm if the body is that of the missing girl. yesterday they say ridgeway was abducted. the state of pennsylvania revoking jerry sandusky's $59,000 pension in the wake of his child sex abuse conviction.

sandusky's wife dottie will not be entitled to any benefits either. a lawyer says he plans to fight that decision. on tuesday, sandusky was sentenced to at least 30 years behind bars for molesting ten boys over a 15-year period. the captain of the cruise ship that capsized off the italian coast is suing after he was fired. ske tino is suing for wrongful dismissal and is demanding his job back. he is facing several charges for manslaughter and abandoning ship. he was the captain of the costa concordia. prosecutors say he misled the coast guard about the truex tent of the disaster. this morning we are learning new information into how a man was able to go through airport security with a smoke grenade and other weapons in his luggage. federal agents arrested the 28-year-old at the los angeles airport during a layover on his way home from boston to japan. officials in south korea say they screened the man's luggage when he made a stop there but

found no hazardous materials. u.s. agents say the smoke grenade violates the u.n. regulations for shipping explosives. a detention hearing is set for tomorrow. police are looking for a woman who swiped an expensive wedding dress from a new jersey store. it happened a week ago in fanwood. the shop owner says the woman came in with a group of six friends and a small child. the friends were distracting the owners inside the dressing room while the woman was able to grab a $5,000 gown and walk out. police say the little girl was in on the act, too. >> the kid asked for my wife to go to buy pizza and go by a drink, and we say this is a boutique store this is not a restaurant. >> so far, no one has come forward to identify the woman or her accomplices. >> that's pretty bold. >> i don't know what you're thinking to drag a child into the mess as well. >> i'm thinking a huge wedding gown, you're walking down the street. somebody might notice that. >> somebody might catch you. time for weather and traffic.

veronica johnson here with some forecast news for us. >> yeah. our weather is not that crazy. but certainly has gotten colder during the overnight. not so much here, but out here look at that, temperatures right around freezing. pittsburgh at 33 degrees below freezing. some of that cooler air that came in behind last night's front, it will be making its way this way. in fact, there will be yet another front moving through tomorrow, and that's really going to allow temperatures to drop. it's in the mid 30s by saturday morning. as far as this morning goes, we're under mostly clear sky. at 52 degrees right now. your wind light out of the northwest. the winds will pick up a little bit this afternoon, but i'm expecting more of those breezy conditions for friday. at the bus stop this morning, 41 to 46 degrees. we're dry, we're cool. so yes, you're going to need a jacket stepping up. sun is up today at 7:14.

unlike yesterday, we were waiting for a lot of those clouds to depart, waiting for the fog to leave. we're nothing but dry this morning thanks to this area of high pressure. there's another weather front again that will come to the area tomorrow without any rain. just like this last one did. we're back to sunshine. and then for the weekend, we are also dry. it's going to be really nice this weekend. warming up out ahead of yet another front that may be a big severe weather producer in areas of the plains this upcoming weekend. for us, 59 to 64 degrees today. i think we'll struggle to see temperatures get over 60 degrees in a lot of neighborhoods north and west today. for the evening, 46 to 53 degrees. jacket required. for friday, breezy at 63. saturday, your high 64. 74 expected on sunday. danella? >> still pretty quiet in our area. let's check om local roads and tell you how nice it is. early bird gets the worm as far as traffic goes because it's

nice and clear along 50 in maryland, really from annapolis. no issues to report. let's head to 295 as well as i-95. you're accident-free. i'll give you a live look as you make your way past 198 on i-95. nice commute as you continue to beltway. if you're taking the rails, still looking good. not seeing any reported delays at all. i'm back in ten. letting friends ride along with your teen while he or she is driving could be dangerous. a new study out this morning by triple-a shows that risky behavior by 16 and 17-year-old drivers increases when other teens are in the car. speeding, late night driving and alcohol use all increase between 5% and 18% when two or more teens were riding in a car with their younger driver. aaa says they want to see stricter limits on who can ride with teens when they first get their licenses. car crashes are the leading cause of death among teens.

in news4 your health, more young adults are having strokes. researchers at the university of cincinnati found a rise in strokes for adults between the ages of 20 and 55. the percentage of stroke patients under 55 grew from about 13% in 1993 to 19% in 2005. it's unclear whether improved diagnosis or chronic diseases like type 2 diseases or obesity are driving down the stroke age. the average age of a stroke patient was 69. that was in 2005. and that is down from 71 in 1994. for the first time this morning, we are getting a detailed look at the u.s. anti-doping agency report that ultimately stripped lance armstrong of his seven tour de france titles. the more than 1,000-page report contains testimony from 26 witnesses, including 11 former teammates. they say armstrong not only took human growth hormone, testosterone and received blood transfusions but forced teammates to dope as well. the report also details how riders avoided being caught.

armstrong has previously denied the usada's assertions. the agency banned armstrong in august and stripped him from all his titles. check out this video from a youth football game that really got out of control. look at this. somebody posted this online. two rival coaches here just going at it on the football field. this is in sacramento. one coach charged the other, tackling him right in front of the 13-year-old players. it didn't end in, though. people tried to step in, causing even more chaos on the field. no word on what may have caused that fight or if anybody's going to face charges. redskins fans can rest a little easier this morning. robert griffin iii will likely be ready to play on sunday. rg3 took part in a full practice yesterday and says he felt no ill effects of the mild concussion he suffered against the falcons last sunday. while griffin says he's ready to play, he will still be evaluated daily and has not yet been cleared for contact. griffin says he's learned he

needs work harder to keep himself safe. he needs to work harder -- and his teammates need to work a little harder too to keep him safe as well. hello. still ahead this morning, another night of fireworks? what's at stake tonight as paul ryan and vice president joe biden take center stage? plus, playing with their backs against the wall what. the nationals are saying about today's must-win game. and it's going to feel more like november as you step out the door this morning. how the rest of your day is shaping up next.

this is news4 today. >> looking at the stories making headlines right now at 5:30, it is the chance for the second in chand -- command to shine as paul ryan and vice president joe biden debate. passengers aboard a syrian airlines plane are back home. good morning to you. i'm eun yang. >> i'm aaron gilchrist. welcome back to news4 today on this thursday aoctober 11th. it is win or go home for the nationals. they lost to the cardinals 8-0 yesterday. now they have to win their next two games in this series or the

season is over. the nats players and coaches say they know what they've got to do. >> we lost another battle. got a couple more battles we need to win. and that comes from our pitching. >> you know, it's going to be a lot of fun. we got lohse and we've hit him pretty well all year. tomorrow it's win or go home. >> today's game starts at 4:00 this afternoon. if you are not able to go to the game, you can watch it on tv. it's on tbs and we'll have highlights tonight on news4 at 11:00. >> go nats, go nats, go nats! we've got to win. time for weather and traffic on the 1s. meteorologist veronica johnson here with our forecast. what kind of baseball weather do we have today? >> yesterday during the game, we were up around 70. today we'll have more sunshine. it's going to be nice and wa, right? temperatures are going to be a little cooler. so less warmth for us today. here's what's going on. i start showing you the satellite in re dar review. we've got the showers up to the

north. a cold front came through the area during the overnight, left us with a mostly clear sky and just lower readings. the mercury dropping off overnight from 45 to 52 degrees. gaithersburg down through rockville. d.c. right now at 52 chilly degrees right now. a chilly start for us under a mostly clear sky. 40 to 47 degrees. by lunchtime today, 53 to 56. and even though we're going for a high temperature of 60 degrees, we're going to struggle to get above 60. hold on. october will return. i'll have a look at your four-day forecast in ten minutes. right now, a look at traffic. >> good morning. a problem on the beltway as you're traveling the outer loop of the beltway. at 355, that exit ramp right now looks to be blocked because of a crash in the area. if you're traveling the outer loop of the beltway, trying to get on wisconsin avenue, 355, that ramp looks to be blocked

right now. let's head over to i-95 in virginia. if you're heading northbound and southbound, checking for accidents, road work, no incidents to report. a live look as you make your way in both directions. northbound from prince william parkway will take about 13 minutes to get to the beltway. all eyes on the vice presidential race as joe biden and paul ryan face off in their first and only debate. new numbers this morning show what voters think about the candidates and their running mates. tracy potts joins us live from capitol hill with more. good morning. >> all eyes tonight on center college in danville, kentucky, where vice president joe biden has the experience, but numbers we're going to tell you about seem to indicate that the focus tonight, at least for the public, could be on paul ryan. ryan is already in kentucky where he is getting ready for this debate tonight. he's been practicing doing at least three mock debates that we know of in florida and in

virginia. meantime, the vice president has been in delaware, focusing, we are told on ryan's book, his speeches, his budget after last week and the performance by president obama. the vice president's got a challenge tonight. >> we think he's probably going to come at me like a con nannon ball. >> i just want to make sure that when i say these things that i don't have the congressman say no, no, no, i don't have that position. or that's not the governor's position. >> now, here's the problem. pew research finds that the vice president's favorability is down, not nearly what it was four years ago when he debated sarah palin. in fact, favorable ratings for him, 39%, unfavorable, 51%. so it's upside down. it's less than ryan's. and also people seem to favor ryan to biden to win this debate 40% to 34%. >> tracy potts live on capitol

hill for us this morning. thank you. mitt romney's strong debate performance last week is helping him gain ground in critical swing states. a new nbc news, marist, "wall street journal" poll shows the former governor now leads the president in virginia. he has turned a two-point deficit last week into a one-point lead 48-47. in ohio, the president still leads, but romney gained two points since last week to shrink the gap 51-45. in florida, it is just a one-point lead for the president, 48-47. romney is elaborating his position on abortion. his clarification comes after an interview earlier this week with a newspaper in iowa. the republican presidential nominee told "the des moines register" that if elected, he would not pursue abortion-related legislation. reporters asked him about that comment during a campaign stop in ohio. romney spelled out steps he'd take on the abortion issue. >> i think i said time and again, i'm a pro life candidate, i'll be a pro life president.

the actions i'll take immediately are to remove funding for planned parenthood. it will not be part of my budget. >> the obama campaign says romney is hiding his true positions on women's issues and would support banning all abortions. today president obama taking his campaign to florida. he'll travel to miami this afternoon and hold a rally at the university of miami. then this evening the president will headline a fundraiser at a hotel. that event expected to raise $1 million for the president's campaign. the president also speaking out about his own lackluster debate last week in. two interviews this week, he said he had a bad night and that he was too polite. we're just learning the 14-year-old activist shot by taliban gunmen earlier this week could now be moved to a hospital with better medical resources. the girl's uncle tells nbc news she is still unconscious after emergency surgery wednesday to

remove a bull fret her neck. the bbc is already reporting she has been moved, but her uncle says that won't happen for at least 24 hours. they are considering islamabad or dubai for treatment. this morning, we're hoping to learn more about a deadly shooting just blocks from the galladet university campus. someone shot a man not far from east capital street. police have not said who the victim is or if they know why he was shot. one young woman says she was the victim's friend and is devastated. >> he was like a cousin to me. he always put a smile on my face. at the school, i would look forward to getting off the bus just for him to say something smart to me. >> the police chief says an officer just a block away heard the gunfire and found the victim. another woman has come forward claiming she was fondled by a man in fairfax county.

this is the sixth case police have identified in just over a month. she was walking in cumberland drive in springfield when a man approached her from behind, grabbed her and groped her. investigators think more victims could be out there. so far no word if there are any leads in this investigation. why personal views on same-sex marriage have put a university administrator on the hot seat this morning. plus, why it's the end of the line farwell known coca-cola bottle. ♪

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earning 1% cash back "and what do you do?" "oh, i sell insurance like no one else." "oh, that's nice." "thank you." now, that's progressive. call or click today. an end of a coke era. a minnesota plant will stop filling the last six and a half-ounce returnable glass coke bottles in the country. the winona plant has been bottling coke products for 80 years and the general manager decided to stop bottling the glass bottles because of business costs. the 14 full-time employees at the plant will keep their jobs, though. i think coke tastes better when it comes out. that glass bottle. that's just me. >> i don't drink dark soda. >> oh. okay then. 5:41. time for weather and traffic. >> i drink them. >> thank you, veronica. >> it is much better out of the bottle.

>> just not a part of my life experience. i'm sorry. >> all right, fine. >> let's move on. hey, out there this morning, mostly clear skies. sun is up today at 7:14, so it's going to take a while to climb out of the 40s. that's where we are right now. 45 in aspen hill. vienna coming in at 47. columbia, maryland, you have sunshine on tap for today. 44 at 7:00 a.m. just under 50 at 10:00 a.m. we'll top out there right around 60 degrees. we'll have another look at your four-day forecast. right now, first 4 traffic. >> crash on the outer loop of the beltway. a truck has crashed into a poll blocking the exit ramp. if you're traveling the outer loop, looks like you cannot get on 355 right now. also problems in the area. if you're traveling westbound at evans trail, the right lane will get you by, but eastbound, all your lanes are blocked at evans

trail. what you want to do is make a left on cherry hill. coming up on 5:43. a camera captured the scene as he was bullied. now the family of this teen is stepping up the pressure to put a stop to the abuse. plus high the race for the white house is being credited with the must-have halloween costume of the year. ♪

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♪ introducing the all-new lexus es. ♪ take away his toys and he'll play with a stick. introducing the all-new lexus es. take away their bikes and they'll still find a way to get where they're going. but if take you away early childhood education... slash k-12 funding... and cut college aid for middle class families ... they won't go far. yet that's exactly what mitt romney wants to do... ...to pay for a $250,000 tax break for multi-millionaires. if mitt romney wins, the middle class loses. priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising. when president obama couldn't. first, my energy independence policy means more than three million new jobs. many of them in manufacturing. my tax reform plan to lower rates for the middle class and for small business creates seven million more. and expanding trade, cracking down on china,

and improving job training takes us to over 12 million new jobs. i'm mitt romney, and i approve this message. 14 before the hour now. controversy this morning at a d.c. university. administrator there on paid leave after taking a stand on proposed same-sex marriage in maryland. dr. angela mccaskill is the head of diversity in northeast d.c. this summer she reportedly signed a petition to reverse maryland's proposed same-sex marriage law. school officials say it's inappropriate given her job as chief of diversity.

students there are split on the decision to put her on leave. >> when you're in certain roles on campus, like as the president, that separation of personal and private life is kind of gone. >> that doesn't mean she'll vote for it. it means she's supporting people's right to vote, in my opinion, and people are reading too much into it. >> we went to mccaskill's home in prince george's county but got no answer. the university president says he'll use this time that mccaskill is on leave to determine what to do next. a family in frederick county says they may press charges because their teenage son keeps getting bull lid. he was bullied in front of a reporter just as he was preparing for an on camera interview to talk about his experiences being bullied. last week, diener was suspended for fighting back against bullies in gym class. as a result, he was not allowed to go to homecoming. diener's family and friends are hosting an anti-bullying

homecoming dance this friday. about 150 people are expected to attend. a man will spend 40 years in prison for prowling at a local mall and sexually assaulting this woman. this is surveillance video that montgomery police just put out from that night two years ago. robert cruz gonzalez was sentenced yesterday for stalking a stranger at the aspen hill shopping center, then attacking her and forcing her into a wooded area where he sexually assaulted her. that womanaged to get away. maryland health officials are still trying to contact people who may be linked to the meningitis outbreak. at last count, the cdc reported 138 people had fungal meningitis from a contaminated steroid injection. 12 victims have died including one in maryland and one in virginia. the steroid shots commonly used to treat back pain came from the new england compounding center in massachusetts. the company has recalled all of its products, but doctors say more cases will be discovered in the coming weeks.

the massachusetts company run by the same executives who operated at the pharmacy at the center of that meningitis outbreak is also closed in the wake of the outbreak. state and federal regulators shut down ameridose for inspection. they provide oral syringes to about 3,000 hospitals nationwide. right now there is no recall of their products. fairfax county police are trying to determine why a man was on the tracks when a vre train hit and killed him. police say the man was standing near fairfax station road and fairfax county parkway, not far from the burke center station. vre stopped all its trains as rescuers responded to the scene. it took about three hours to resume service. police have not released the man's name. virginia tech's president faces a new lawsuit after the 2007 campus massacre. the parents of two students who died are suing. they want the state supreme court to overturn a judge's ruling that dismissed president charles steeger from their wrongful death lawsuit.

32 faculty and students died in the 2007 massacre. in june, a judge reduced the payment to $400,000, the max allowed by state law. no jail time for a former campaign aide. howard brooks got 200 hours of community service for lying to investigators. back in may, brooks confessed to paying third party candidate suleman brown. he would then attack adrian fenty. brooks also admitted he lied to the fbi about payments to brown. prosecutors accepted the lighter sentence in exchange for information into gray's 2010 campaign. now the live desk with break news out of the middle east. >> masked gunmen have killed a u.s. employee of the embassy in yemen. the yemeni man was on his way to work on thursday. the attackers were apparently on a motorcycle and opened fire on a cardozo rig the man who headed an embassy security team.

as we get more information we'll pass it along. the dalai lama will visit charlottesville, virginia, to speak about compassionate medical care. he will speak during two events, one which will be held at an outdoor pavilion in downtown. it is part of a larger tour of college towns which wraps up later this month. yesterday he was at the college of william and mary in williamsburg. there he spoke about treating enemies with compassion and the consequences of war. it is 5:51 now on your thursday morning. time for weather and traffic on the 1s. veronica johnson is here with a chilly start to the morning. >> it's not quite cold enough to have the heat on in the house yet. >> says you. >> well, i live with somebody who really loves the heat and he hasn't gone there yet. >> it's on in my house. >> i know who this is. >> i hope it's your husband. >> he's a musician. >> that's him. but he's not up yet. not for another nine minutes when i call him and wake him up. >> that's when you call him out.

>> but saturday morning, i think a lot of us are going to have the heat on in their homes. looking for the coolest temperatures of the season to come our way. it is cold out there this morning. we've got freeze warnings up just west of the area. west virginia to western maryland, freeze warnings. so temperatures are already cold enough. not an advisory. not a watch. they are indeed right around freezing. morgantown around 33 degrees. that's kind of the cold that we'll see creep closer to us by the time we get to saturday morning. we've got high pressure over us today. it came in behind last night's front. it was a dry front for us. we'll get another one of these dry fronts coming through the area on friday. just a few clouds with it. and then the reinforcements of some more cold air for saturday morning. sunday we'll warm up out ahead of next front that will bring us our next best chance of rain, that will be monday of next week. so for today, we're dry, we're cool, we're back to november. your high, 59 to 64 degrees with

a wind that will be shifting out of the west to the southwest. for your evening, 46 to 53. so mostly clear and cooler conditions coming your way. here's a look at your four-day forecast.today. 63 tomorrow. but that 63 for tomorrow will come with a bit of wind. it's going to be breezy on friday. cool conditions for saturday. and then breezy again for nday, temperature. we get up to 74, 75 degrees. let's get a look at traffic again with danella. >> good news if you're traveling the beltway. 355 had a crash there that was blocking the ramp to 355 from the outer loop of the beltway. that crash has cleared. let's head up to i-270. starting to see delays if you're about to head out of the house. you're slow i testify 270 from frederick. steady delays southbound as you pass 109. i'll give you a live look. pretty slow in this area. but the bright side, once you pass 109 for now, heading towards clarksburg road, nice

and clear southbound. lanes are open all the way to rockville. that's good. heading over to the rals, also good. not seeing any reported delays. i'm back in ten. over to you. united airlines wants to see if a fare hike will fly with customers. the increase of $10 may not last, though. airlines often roll back fare hikes if competitors don't match them. in fact, a dozen airlines have tried raising fares this year. just four of those attempts succeeded. united says the price increase will help cover the increased cost of doing business. >> some good financial news this morning. filings for foreclosure here in the u.s. fell in september to a five-year low. the report by realty track says the number of homes starting the foreclosure process fell 12% from august. it is the second consecutive month for these numbers to drop. in the third quarter, foreclosures fell to their lowest levels since the end of 2007.

the now bankrupt kodak company says it's ending retiree health care and survivor benefits at the end of this year. the dropped benefits include medical, dental, life insurance and survivor income benefits. the deal does not affect pension benefits, though. kodak says the move is necessary the allow the company to emerge from bankruptcy protections as a profitable sustainable company. the popular auction site e-bay is getting a makeover as it tries to remake its image. >> e-bay is giving its website's a fresh new look. the overhaul has a more social network type of feel with a nod towards pinterest. the new look encourages users to browse and collect items they may want to buy later. the features will be rolled out gradually over the next three months. e-bay is also launching a smart phone and tablet app called e-bay now, which lets people buy items from retailers like macy's, target and walgreens.

it promises delivery within an hour in most cities, but for now, the service is just being tested in san francisco. and you can now be a toys 'r' us kid all over the world. starting today, the retailer will begin shipping products to more than 60 countries. the service supplies items bought on their websites. yesterday, toys 'r' us announced it would open toy departments inside 25 macy's stores across the country. these will be open from october 15th to january 15th. >> thank you. no facebook in the white house for the obama children. the first lady recently said in a round table that she won't let her daughters malia or sasha join the social media site. she says she talks to her daughters about growing up in the digital age and warns them every moment can be captured and shared online. the first lady said she told her girls "you can't act bratty because you may be having a moment but somebody could use

that moment and try to define you forever." good advice there. >> for any parent to give their kids. >> and some adults, too. >> that's true. a lot of people get in trouble. halloween is just a few weeks away. >> big bird costumes apparently flying off store shelves right now since mitt romney mentioned the 8-foot-tall character. costume stores have said they've seen an increase in sales. the other big seller, presidential masks. right now president obama's masks are outselling mitt romney masks. >> i like the regular big bird costume but all the variations seem strange to me. >> the sassy big bird. >> okay. ahead at 6:00 this morning, the link between the nobel prize and chocolate. and the youth football coach who lost his cool. a live look outside right now. temperatures in the 40s in some places. we'll take a look at your full

forecast as well as the roads. but news4 today continues.

and now, from washington's leading news station, this is news4 today. >> pushed to the edge. y